Paleo Diet Is The Prescription – A Physician Gets It Right!

I am a rehabbed 50 year old ex ole fat, unhealthy guy that had a life changing expirience in December of 2009 during a weight loss challenge at a global gym. Paleo and crossfit are a part of my everyday life. Recently a highschool girl friend of mine, in St. Joseph Missouri, decided it was time to take control of her life and visited her doctor for assistance. Her Dr. gave her the attachment for eating and excerise. She is two weeks into the program. I was shocked that a medical professional was prescribing a paleo style diet. There is hope. Robb’s focus on working with the medical professionals is paying off. Great job by Robb and all of the staff at RobbWolf.com .

-Mike

Here’s what Mike’s friend was given:

Ancestral Health Lifestyle

This lifestyle is simple. Cut out processed foods and eat only real foods found in nature. Specifically vegetables, a few fruits, and meats/poultry/fish without breading or any bread products. Avoid all grains, dairy, legumes and potatoes.

Carbohydrates

Although the Paleolithic lifestyle is a kind of low carbohydrate diet, not all low carbohydrate diets are necessarily healthy. It is recommended that you stay under 25 net carbohydrates (total carbohydrates minus fiber intake) for at least the first 2 weeks. This will improved you metabolic ability to use and burn fat stores for energy which allows a much healthier ‘internal environment. This reduction in carbohydrates may result in 3-5 days of ‘detox’ during which you may be tired and/or grouchy.

Supplements

The only vitamins or supplements recommended for the initial period include Vitamin D 2000 IU daily and fish oil capsules 1 gm with each meal or cod liver oil. Also probiotics, garlic 1000 mg daily and oil of oregano capsules – one daily but just for 2 to 4 weeks.

Calories

Do not count calories or fat. If hungry between meals then up the fat content of each meal. Just stay with real foods.

Sweeteners

I recommend none. But if you must, try Stevia or Truvia which are not artificial sweeteners, but have little effect on insulin.

Beverages

Drink water or herbal teas. Avoid caffeine. Remember individuals with a history of gluten intolerance should not use coffee products of any kind.

For the first 2 weeks stop all sugars, pastas, potatoes, breads, rice, pop, diet pop, artificial sweeteners, cereals, dairy products, fruits, and all grains. Fruits may be added back in the third week.

Cut net carbohydrates to less than 25 net carbohydrates per day.

For breakfast try bacon, sausages, ham or steak with eggs. However, avoid large amounts of nitrates which are often used as a preservative in meats and consider nitrate-free meats. Almond butter on a spoon, a coconut shake or even salmon are also breakfast options. Try to think outside the box when it comes to breakfast. And please, no fruit juices which are simply concentrated sugars.

Create lunch and dinner with any combination of vegetables, fish, poultry, meats or eggs which are whole foods found in nature and avoid processed meats. Remember to avoid grains, including corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, quinoa and chia as well as dairy products. Acceptable nuts include macadamia nuts, walnuts and pecans. After the initial 2 weeks you may consume 3-5 small servings of fruit per week, i.e. one half cup of blueberries after dinner.

Coconut Oil: Consume 1 to 5 tablespoons of coconut oil each day. Cook with it, add it to meals when cooking meats, sauces and vegetables and try a coconut shake. Some people eat it mixed with almond butter or in hot tea. Also try coconut butter by the spoonful.

Coconut Shake: Approximately 3 ice cubes (try making them out of unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk) with 8 ounces of unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk, 1 to 3 tablespoons of coconut oil (start with one and work up since too much may cause a stomach ache at first) and one scoop of flavored non-
whey base protein powder. Use a blender or Magic Bullet to mix.

Suggested foods for the first two weeks:
Vegetables – best cooked
Broccoli
Asparagus
Spinach
Cauliflower

Exercise: Exercise that is strenuous is not recommended for the first two weeks. Afterwards, weight-lifting or high intensity interval training (HIIT) may add to your progress but no more than 2 to 3 times weekly with at least a day in between.

HIIT: This may be done on a treadmill, recumbent or stationary bike, stair-master, outside or with almost any exercise equipment. The principals are the same:

Start at a leisurely pace for the first 3 minutes.
As soon as the 3 minutes are up go as fast and as hard as you can tolerate, without hurting yourself, but just for 30 seconds. As soon as the 30 seconds are up, resume your warm-up pace for 90 seconds. As soon as the 90 seconds are up repeat the cycle of 30 seconds high intensity followed by 90 seconds of a warm-up pace for 8 cycles.
Finish with a 2 minute cool-down at a relaxed pace.

Amy Kubal is a Registered "Paleo" Dietitian and the ring leader of Robb's RD consulting team. She works with a wide range of clients from competitive athletes to those dealing with complex health problems. Check out her bio and consulting options, and her blog Fuel As Rx to get your Paleo nutrition fix.

Wow, the well-read doctors are out there! I wish my doctor had told me about Paleo years ago; who knows what health disasters I could have avoided in the intervening time. Better later than never, and it’s never too late!

I had a similar experience going to my GP recently–I have been having joint pain and other symptoms, and she was thinking autoimmune. They drew blood for a panel of tests and everything, but in the meantime she told me the best thing I could do is go on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet!

This doctor says to avoid coffee if you have a history of gluten intolerance. Obviously, I feel better without gluten. I’ve never been diagnosed as gluten intolerant or celiac. Do I still need to avoid coffee?

The gluten-coffee thing is addressed in the book Primal Body, Primal Mind (which I really enjoyed). My basic understanding is that when your gut has adverse reactions to gluten, it can also learn to be cross-reactive to things that you often consume with gluten (like coffee) or are genetically/structurally similar to gluten. The most common substances the author notes are casein (cheese included), oats (even “gluten-free”), rye, barley, spelt, kamut, yeast, coffee, and milk chocolate. Hope that helps!

There is some evidence that coffee mimics the gluten protein. Therefore, if you are not seeing results from removing gluten (such as in the case of having Celiac or Hashimoto’s) some doctors suggest eliminating coffee as well to see if symptoms are relieved.

This is fabulous! I’ve heard that b/c coffee can be inflammatory, (caffiene and mold) and untreated Celiacs are inflamed already, it’s not a good match. Read somewhere that beans can be cross contaminated with gluten, but not sure I buy it. Might be worth googling.

This is pretty great. While some people will always be seeking a pill to fix problems, most people really want to know why they always feel tired, have GI problems, bad sleep, depression , etc… I’m an ER doc and practice in the environment of a ‘quick fix’ but have recently starting prescribing fewer antibiotics, fewer pain meds, but have spent more time talking about diet, sleep, and exercise. I also give a handout similar to but not as detailed as the one above. My patient satisfaction scores have gone up! Is there hope??

Thanks for sharing this, Amy and Mike.
Although I’m still relatively new to it, many other chiropractic physicians have been proponents of ancestral nutrition for quite some time.
I’m glad to hear that it’s also beginning to catch on in the allopathic community as well.

Chia is higher in omega-6 fatty acids and short chain omega-3’s. The goal is to minimize the O-6’s and increase long chain O-3’s. Also, as a seed some may be sensitive to it and/or experience a cross reactivity.

Interesting stuff! I’m travelling 2 hours (closest I could find) next week to see a doc who is respectful of me choosing to eat paleo and is prepared to give me more than just pharmacological solutions to my thyroiditis. I live in Australia!!

Amazing, the actual well-read physicians tend to be out there! I wish my personal physician experienced told me regarding Paleo years ago; who knows exactly what wellness catastrophes I could possess prevented in the all of the intervening period. Much better later than by no means, as well as it’s by no means too late!IP Wireless Camera

Well that explains my bloated gut, if coffee mimics the gluten protein that is the answer. I am gluten free otherwise. I couldn’t understand the bloat coming home from work and only having a “cuppa” in the afternoon. Looks like me and my lifelong friend will have to part company, coming from Scandanavian heritage it’s not going to be easy.

Cyrex labs has a LOOOONG list of potential cross reactors. coffee and chocolate are amongst them. it’s something to consider if one is otherwise gluten free (paleo actually!) but still not making great progress.

I recently determined coffee + chocolate is my remaining intolerance. I seem to be okay with them separately, but I have finally started feeling better and losing inches after cutting them both out completely so I won’t try re-introducing them until I really feel I’m at my best.

Marcy I am exactly the same way. Took out coffee for a week, had a couple of cups on the weekend and was in pain again. So taking the coffee out, sticking with green tea and limiting chocolate to once maybe twice a month and a little bit at that.

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